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Lebanon: Syrian Refugee Children Blocked from School

Education Ministry Should Remove Barriers; Extend Registration Deadline

(Beirut) – Lebanon’s Education Ministry should extend the December 4, 2021, school registration deadline for Syrian children and end policies that are blocking Syrian refugee children’s access to education, Human Rights Watch said today. Thousands of…
202006syria_kids_education
News

Civil Society Groups Seek Urgent UN Action on Yemen

More Than 60 Groups Urge General Assembly to Establish New Investigative Mechanism

(New York) – The United Nations General Assembly should act swiftly to establish an investigative mechanism to gather and preserve evidence of serious human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war in Yemen, a coalition of more than 60…
UN General Assembly Hall
News

Yemen: Houthi Forces Attack, Displace Villagers

End Attacks on Civilians; Allow Aid Access

(Beirut) – The Houthi armed group has fired artillery and ballistic missiles indiscriminately into populated areas of Yemen’s Marib governorate resulting in civilian casualties, including women and children, and causing a new wave of civilian…
A truck searches for victims under the rubble. The house was destroyed by a Houthi missile in Al-Amoud in al-Jubah district, Marib governorate pictured on October 29, 2021.  
News

Congress needs to investigate the Pentagon’s failure to protect civilians

A New York Times exposé on a previously undisclosed attack on dozens of noncombatants in Syria is indicative of DOD’s impunity.

Pentagon leadership cannot – or will not – fix its civilian casualties problem. It’s long past time for Congress to step in. On November 17, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “we are committed to protecting civilians and getting this right...We have…
A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013.
News

Letter to President Biden on US Policy Toward the Middle East

November 3, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: US Policy Toward the Middle East Dear President Biden, When you were elected last year, we urged your incoming administration to strive to be a…
News

The Torture Continues, Say Syrian Refugees Who Returned

Shortly after Denmark began telling Syrian refugees that parts of Syria are "safe" and stripped them of their temporary protected status, I talked to a 31-year-old refugee who voluntarily returned to Syria from Jordan in December 2020. He told me…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

UN Should Create New Yemen War-Crimes Investigation

Saudi Arabia and UAE Fight for Impunity in Yemen Conflict

Last month, the Netherlands’ ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had “failed the people of Yemen” by rejecting the renewal of an investigation into alleged human rights abuses and war crimes…
People stand in front of a damaged building
News

Expo 2020 Dubai: How Would an Honest Yemen Pavilion Look?

As the UAE whitewashes its abuses in the country, Yemeni victims face an uphill battle for justice

When I see the extravagance and spectacle of Expo 2020 in Dubai, I immediately think of Yemen, the poorest Arab nation sitting around 1,000 kilometers away, and the unspeakable suffering that the UAE shares…
UAE 2020 Expo
Report

“Our Lives Are Like Death”

Summary Syria is a death country, a kidnapping country. Anyone coming back will lose their money or their life. — Salam, 26, from al-Jeza in Daraa Syrian refugees who voluntarily returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan…
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Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

(Beirut) – Syrian refugees who returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias, Human Rights Watch…
News

Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

Struggle to Survive Amid Devastation, Property Destruction

(Beirut) – Syrian refugees who returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias, Human Rights Watch said in a report released…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

UN Rights Body Should Stand with Yemeni People

Renewing Vital Mandate Essential to Support Victims, Stem Abuse

The latest report by the United Nations Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen details “over six years of unnecessary suffering” by people in the country. First established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2017, the group is the only international,…
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News

Yemen: Key Human Rights Concerns for UN Envoy

Press Parties to End Abuses

(Beirut, September 12, 2021) – The new United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, should make human rights concerns front and center as he begins his work, Human Rights Watch said today. The Swedish diplomat succeeds Martin Griffiths, who…
Aid is delivered in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen, September 2018
News

Saudi Arabia: Yemeni Workers at Risk of Mass Forced Returns

Face Possible Return to Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis, Loss of Critical Remittances

(Beirut) – Saudi authorities have since July 2021 began to terminate or not renew contracts of Yemeni professionals, which could force them to return to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities should suspend…
An aid worker gives a food ration to a woman in Sanaa, Yemen, July 19, 2020
News

Health Workers Abandoned in Yemen’s Covid-19 Fight

Houthi Authorities Still Hinder Vaccination of Medical Staff

Health workers in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen have recently reported that they face significant barriers to obtaining vaccines, and existing vaccines may expire before they are used. By failing to take all available measures to address the Covid-…
A medical worker wearing full protective gear stands at the gate of the intensive care unit of a hospital, where coronavirus (Covid-19) patients are treated in Sanaa, Yamen, on June 15, 2020.
News

UN Security Council: Restore Syria Cross-Border Aid

Russia Should Allow Full Year of UN-Led Aid Delivery from Turkey, Iraq

(New York) – Russia should not block the United Nations Security Council from reauthorizing and expanding cross-border humanitarian aid operations across northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Millions of people in northeast and northwest…
UN humanitarian aid trucks enter northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on June 1, 2021
News

Yemen: Houthis Subject Model to Unfair Trial

Yemeni Model and Actress Accused of Indecent Act; Threatened With Virginity Test

  Update 11/19/2021: On November 7, 2021, Houthi authorities sentenced Intisar al-Hammadi, a Yemeni actress and model, and another woman to five years in prison each on charges of committing an indecent act. Two other women accused in the same…
Intisar al-Hammadi